MV SuperFerry 14
![]() MV White Sanpo 2 while still in service in Japan.
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History | |
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Name | White Sanpo 2 |
Owner |
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Operator |
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Port of registry | Imabari, Japan |
Route | Matsuyama – Imabari– Kobe |
Builder | Hayashikane Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Shimonoseki, Japan |
Yard number | 1240 |
Launched | February 1981 |
In service | June 1981 |
Out of service | June 2000 |
Identification | IMO number: 8004210 |
Fate | Sold to WG&A SuperFerry |
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Name | MV SuperFerry 14 |
Owner | WG&A Philippines |
Operator | WG&A SuperFerry |
Port of registry | Manila, Philippines |
Route | Manila – Iloilo– Bacolod City – Cagayan de Oro (2004) |
Maiden voyage | 2000 |
Out of service | February 27, 2004 |
Fate | Destroyed by fire as a result of terrorist attack by Abu Sayyaf on February 27, 2004 off Corregidor Island |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | ROPAX Ferry |
Tonnage | 10,181.77 GT |
Length | 155.6 |
Beam | 23.6 m |
Draft | 5.8 m |
Installed power | dual SEMT Pielstick diesel marine engines; 23,400 hp (combined) |
Propulsion | dual propellers |
Speed | 24 knots (max) |
Capacity | 1,747 passengers |
2004 SuperFerry 14 bombing | |
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Standort | Manila Bay, Philippines |
Date | February 27, 2004 (UTC+8) |
Target | MV SuperFerry 14 |
Attack type | bombing |
Deaths | 116 |
Perpetrators | Abu Sayyaf |
M/V SuperFerry 14 was a Philippine registered RORO Ferry that was attacked on February 27, 2004 by a terrorist group Abu Sayyaf that resulted in the destruction of the ferry and the deaths of 116 people in the Philippines' deadliest terrorist attack.[1][2][3] Six children less than five years old, and nine children between six and 16 years of age were among the dead or missing, including six students on a championship team sent by schools in northern Mindanao to compete in a journalism contest.[4]
Background
MV SuperFerry 14 was built by Hayashikane Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. in Shimonoseki, Japan in February 1981 as the White Sanpo 2 (Japanese: ほわいとさんぽう2) for the Japanese company Sanpo Kaiun K.K. (Japanese: 三宝海運) and was transferred to Ehime Hanshin Ferry (Japanese: 愛媛阪神フェリー) in 1997. She has three passenger decks and a single car deck which was accessible by ramps at the bow and the stern a common feature of a RoPax Ferry, she has extensive passenger facilities and had a luxurious interior, and she also features twin QE2 inspired funnel and she is painted with a giant phoenix on the side of the hull. She is 155.6 meters long, 23.6 meters wide, and had a depth of 13.0 meters. She had a gross tonnage of 10,181.77. She was eventually sold to WG&A in the year 2000 where she was renamed the MV SuperFerry 14. At the time of her service in the Philippines, her interiors were opulent than what is normally found in a domestic ferry thus WG&A marketed her differently to distinguish herself from other ferries in its class.
Bombing
On the night of February 27, the 10,192-ton ferry sailed out of Manila for Cagayan de Oro City via Bacolod and Iloilo City with 899 recorded passengers and crew aboard.[5] A television set containing a 3.6-kilogram (8-pound) TNT bomb had been placed on board in the lower, more-crowded decks.[4][6]
An hour after its 11 p.m. sailing, just off either El Fraile[4] or Corregidor Island[6] an explosion tore through the vessel, starting a fire that engulfed the ship.[6] Captain Ceferino Manzo issued the order to abandon ship at about 1:30 a.m.[7] As the fire spread across the vessel most of the survivors jumped into the sea or boarded rescue boats and, by February 29, officials had accounted for 565 of the 744 recorded passengers and all but two of the 155 crew members.[8]
In the days following the blast, the recovery of the dead and missing, calculated at around 180 on February 29, would be slow. Officials stated the missing may have been trapped inside the blazing ferry, have drowned in Manila Bay and that others may have been picked up by fishing boats.[8] The recovery of bodies would take several months, with only four bodies recovered by Coast Guard divers from the half-submerged ferry in the first week, despite it having been towed to shallower waters near Mariveles town, west of Manila.[5][8][9] At least another 12 bodies, some displaying blast injuries, were recovered by divers in the days up until the 7th.[5] Eventually, 63 bodies would be recovered while another 53 would remain missing, presumed dead.[6]
Investigation
Despite claims from various terrorist groups, the blast was initially thought to have been an accident, caused by a gas explosion, and sabotage was ruled out initially.[5]
However, at the marine board of inquiry hearing in late March 2004, a safety supervisor with the ship's owner, WG&A, testified that about 150 survivors told him an explosion took place in the tourist section around the general area of bunk 51. The Captain of the ferry, Ceferino Manzo, testified in the same hearing that the entire tourist section was engulfed in "thick black smoke [that] smelled like gunpowder."[10] After divers righted the ferry, five months after it sank, they found evidence of a bomb blast. A man named Redondo Cain Dellosa, a Rajah Sulaiman Movement member, confessed to planting a bomb, triggered by a timing device, on board for the Abu Sayyaf group.[6] He held a ticket on the ferry for bunk 51B, where the bomb was placed, and disembarked before the ship's departure.[4]
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced on October 11, 2004, that investigators had concluded that the explosion had been caused by a bomb. She said six suspects had been arrested in connection with the bombing and that the masterminds, Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Sulaiman, were still at large. It was believed that Abu Sayyaf bombed Superferry 14 because the company that owned it, WG&A, did not comply with a letter demanding $1 million in protection money.[11]
Arrest and deportation
Ruben Omar Pestano Lavilla, Jr., a listed terrorist of U.S. State Department, and founder of Philippine terror group Rajah Sulaiman Movement, was arrested in Bahrain on July 24, 2008. Anti-Terrorism Council Chairman Eduardo Ermita announced Lavilla, the alleged mastermind of the Superferry 14 bombing, was deported from Bahrain to the Philippines on August 30. Included in the sanctioned list of the United Nations Security Council,[12][13] the RSM leader is also implicated in the February 14, 2005 bombings at Glorietta, and has pending murder case before the Makati Regional Trial Court for the bombings.[14]
See also
References
- ^ Marhsall, Andrew (November 25, 2008). "Surge in piracy raises concerns over maritime terrorism". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ Thompson, Matthew (July 20, 2005). "The other war against terror ... at $8 a day". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ Harwood, Matthew (June 6, 2008). "Piracy and Terrorism Up on the High Seas, Says Study". Security Management. ASIS International. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Superferry Bombing". Human Rights Watch. February 27, 2004. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c d AFP (March 7, 2004). "Divers recover body parts from ferry disaster". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Elegant, Simon (August 23, 2004). "The Return of Abu Sayyaf". Time. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Ramos, Marlon; Ponte, Romulo O.; Salaverria, Leila B. (February 28, 2004). "112 missing in ferry fire". The Philippine Daily Inquirer. p. 2. Retrieved December 10, 2016 – via News.google.com.
- ^ a b c The Associated Press (February 29, 2004). "Terror group says it bombed Philippines ferry; 180 missing". USA Today. Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Aravilla, Jose (March 4, 2004). Vanzi, Sol Jose (ed.). "3 DECOMPOSING BODIES FOUND IN SUPERFERRY 14". newsflash. Philippine Headline News Onilne. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ "Philippines to reopen ferry inquiry after terror arrests". marinelog.com. March 30, 2004. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ "Bomb caused Philippine ferry fire". BBC NEWS. Bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- ^ "Philippine 2004 ferry blast suspect deported from Bahrain_English_Xinhua". Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- ^ "Free Services for PR :: News :: Press Releases". Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- ^ "ABS-CBN News - Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features". ABS-CBN News.
- Maritime incidents in the Philippines
- Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2004
- Terrorist incidents against shipping
- Terrorist incidents in the Philippines in the 2000s
- 2004 crimes in the Philippines
- Maritime incidents in 2004
- Shipwrecks in the South China Sea
- Ship bombings
- Mass murder in 2004
- Moro conflict
- History of Metro Manila
- 21st century in Manila
- Abu Sayyaf attacks
- Islamic terrorist incidents in 2004